In an art-science collaboration, Dutch artist Jalila Essaidi and Utah State researcher Randy Lewis produced a prototype bulletproof skin - or at least skin that would limit a .22-caliber bullet to only about 2 inches' penetration into a simulated human body. Genetically engineered spider silk - reputed to be five times stronger than steel - was grafted between layers of dermis and epidermis.

Artificial meat - grown in a test tube from animal stem cells - has been theoretically planned for about 10 years, but a European Science Foundation audience heard predictions that lab-grown sausage might be available as soon as next year.

London Fashion Week usually brings forth a shock or two from cutting-edge designers, but a creation by Rachel Freire might have raised the bar: a floor-length dress made from 3,000 cow nipples (designed to resemble roses).

Dog walker Kimberly Zakrzewski was found not guilty in October of violating the poop-scooping ordinance of Fairfax County, Va., despite photographic "evidence" of dog piles submitted by neighbors Virginia and Christine Cornell (who had previously been feuding with Zakrzewski).

In a federal lawsuit for malicious prosecution, a judge found a "strong" likelihood that EPA agent Keith Phillips "deliberately" set up a hazardous-waste enforcement case against Hubert Vidrine for the purpose of facilitating his own work/sex relationship with a female EPA agent.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship has reached "the nadir of absurdity," wrote "Wired.com," after a report in The Atlantic revealed that Pakistan "secures" its tactical nuclear weapons by moving them around the country in ordinary unmarked vans "without noticeable defenses."

Stung by criticism in 2007 that they were neglecting severely wounded service members, the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs have now gone extreme the other way, routinely providing at least a half-dozen (and as many as two dozen) caseworkers per patient.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Michael Sturla, an opponent of increased natural-gas drilling in his district, warned that one effect of the drilling would be an increase of sexually transmitted diseases "amongst the women-folk."

Cicero, Ill., Town President Larry Dominick, the defendant in sexual harassment lawsuits filed by two female employees, gave depositions in the cases, in March 2009 and February 2011, but provided challenging answers on one issue.

Diane Schuler, with a 0.19 blood-alcohol reading (and marijuana in her system), drove the wrong way for two miles on a New York freeway, finally crashing into another car, killing three people and herself.

A small number of environmental and animal rights activists employ violence and physical threats in attempts to achieve their goals, and similar tactics have recently been used by another group bent on intimidating scientists: sufferers of "chronic fatigue syndrome." London's Observer reported that medical researchers who even suggest that the illness might have a "psychological" component have been subject to vitriolic abuse, stalking, disruptions to the scientists' workplaces, and even death threats.